Russia has rejected the UN resolution as
“confrontational,” Churkin, said before the vote, adding
that the document “undermines the referendum” and the right to
self-determination of the Crimean people.

Churkin said that there were “some right things” about
the document, however, as it speaks out against unilateral
actions and provocative rhetoric. But he said that no UN
resolution was needed to achieve those goals, as all sides simply
need to start acting in the interests of the Ukrainian people.

The initiative for Crimea to reunite with Russia came from the
Crimean people themselves, not from Moscow, Churkin said.

The revocation of the official status of the Russian language and
threats to send militants to Crimea by the coup-imposed
government in Kiev provided “the critical mass” to push the
peninsula to the referendum, he said.

Envoys for the EU and the US declared their support for Ukraine’s
territorial integrity.

“The European Union supports the resolution on Ukraine’s
territorial integrity, which follows the UN Charter and calls for
a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” said Thomas
Mayr-Harting, head of the EU delegation to the UN.

In his speech, Mayr-Harting condemned what he called the
violation of Ukrainian territorial integrity by Russia and its
“annexation” of Crimea, saying that the referendum was
“illegal” and “a clear violation of the Ukrainian
constitution.”

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said that international
“borders aren’t mere suggestions.”

“Ukraine is justified in asking us not to recognize the new
status quo [in Crimea], which Russia has enforced by the
military,” she said.

Power urged Moscow to move from a policy of “unilateral
confrontation” to diplomacy.

The 193-nation assembly also voted on the Crimea referendum,
which the Ukraine resolution says contains “no validity,
(and) cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of
the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or of the City of
Sevastopol."

The resolution "calls upon all states to desist and refrain
from actions aimed at the partial or total disruption of the
national unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including
any attempts to modify Ukraine's borders through the threat or
use of force or other unlawful means."

And the resolution invites "all parties to pursue immediately
the peaceful resolution" of the crisis "through direct
political dialogue."

In an effort to attract votes in the General Assembly, where
there appears to be little enthusiasm for allowing the situation
to create an irreparable rift with Moscow, the draft made no
direct mention of Russia.

"The draft resolution is not aimed at condemning any member
state," said Ukraine's UN envoy Yuriy Sergeyev in a letter
accompanying the draft.

On March 19, Russia voted down the Ukrainian resolution
denouncing the Crimea referendum, while China said it would
abstain from the vote.

Russia also vetoed a Security Council resolution that said the
Crimean referendum to join Russia would have "no
validity" in an emergency session held the day before Crimea
headed to the polls.

On March 16, an overwhelming majority of Crimean residents voted
in favor of joining the Russian Federation, following violent
protests in the capital Kiev, which forced out democratically
elected president Viktor Yanukovich.